The invention relates to a device with an arm for hauling and handling containers allowing a semitrailer tractor vehicle to be converted as required. The invention also relates to a tractor vehicle equipped with this device.
The transport industry is increasingly faced with intensive use of equipment. Recourse to containers is significant in this respect because it is now no longer necessary to tie up an entire vehicle for the loading time, as is the case with a conventional truck with a dump body or curtain walls. Devices with arms (such as those described, for example, in EP-358 541 or GB 1 371 812) allow containers and dump bodies to be hauled, loaded and even tipped easily on transport vehicles.
There also exist vehicles which are intended for hauling semitrailers, essentially of the same power and same track. These vehicles are equipped, at the rear, with a fifth wheel which allows for the articulated connection of a semitrailer.
For reasons of size and mechanical strength, the presence of a fifth wheel is unfortunately incompatible with the presence of other items of equipment.
Various attempts have nonetheless been made at allowing multifunction use of vehicles. These include systems for the rapid removal of equipment items, and equipment-support gantries as described, in particular, in EP 0 513 623.
FR 1 528 767 describes a truck equipped with a lifting crane and with a fold-down bed that covers the fifth-wheel used for towing, thus affording a hybrid vehicle which is extremely ponderous and bulky and not veryxe2x80x94or even not at allxe2x80x94suited to road traffic.
WO 94/15813 describes one with an arm and tipper in which a fifth wheel is mounted on the tipper, thus restricting the size of the fifth wheel and the payload, both in terms of traction and in terms of the weight that can be carried.
The search has been on to develop a robust device that can be fitted to standard vehicle chassis, that has mechanical properties that increase the load-carrying capabilities and haulage capabilities and which does not adversely affect the road-going qualities of the vehicle so equipped.
Another objective of the invention is that the device should be handleable in such a way as to accelerate load transfer. Another objective is that the device should not appreciably increase the tare of the vehicle.
The subject of the invention is a device for handling a container, with an arm for an automotive vehicle comprising a pivoting hauling arm equipped with a hook, a tipper pivoting about a first horizontal axis and actuating members for actuating the said tipper. A chassis comprising a front part supports a second pivot axis. This pivot axis is located forward of the point at which the vehicle rests on its rear axle assembly, and a rear part supporting the first horizontal axis, which axis is offset downwards with respect to the upper plane of the vehicle chassis; a link rod is mounted so that it can pivot on the second axis. This link rod supports, with pivoting, an L-shaped arm at the end of which the hook is mounted. Actuating means are arranged between the said link rod and the base of the L-shaped arm.
The hooked part of the L-shaped arm is telescopic with respect to its base.
The respective proportions of the secondary arm, of the hooked part and of the base of the L-shaped arm are such that the hook can easily take hold of a container and haul it onto the vehicle chassis.
The vehicle is equipped with a fifth wheel fixed, possibly as part of the original equipment, to its chassis, the axis of the fifth wheel being located forward of the point at which the vehicle chassis rests on its rear axle assembly.
The fifth wheel may be a 3xc2xdxe2x80x3 fifth wheel, which considerably increases the load-carrying and haulage capacities by comparison with a 2xe2x80x3 fifth wheel. Thus, a conventional load of 55 tonnes can be extended to 110 tonnes.
According to the one advantageous embodiment, the base of the L-shaped arm is further articulated with respect to its hooked part and this makes the handling of a dump body easier.
According to the preferred embodiment, the base of the L-shaped arm is telescopic, and this saves weight by comparison with the above embodiment, and has the additional advantage that, using one sole basic device, containers of various lengths can be handled and that the device can be mounted with equal ease on different types of trucks (it can be adapted between 4.80 m and 5.30 m).
Furthermore, as the life of a handling device is longer than that of the vehicle on which it is mounted, this device can be readily transferred onto the successive vehicles of a fleet, thus improving its profitability.
The cross section of the base of the arm is preferably trapezoidal, rather than a conventional cross section, thus increasing its rigidity.
According to one embodiment, the front and rear parts of the chassis of the device are connected by a lowered longeron which does not protrude above the upper plane of the vehicle chassis.
As an option, the front and rear parts of the chassis are independent and fixed directly to the vehicle chassis, thus considerably lightening the weight of the mechanism and allowing the payload to be increased correspondingly.
As a preference, means for securing a container are arranged on the assembly formed by the tipper and the link rod.
The fifth wheel is advantageously equipped with a device for automatically, particularly pneumatically or hydraulically, securing the kingpin, thus allowing the driver to actuate it remotely.
According to one particular embodiment, the tipper is equipped with rollers that can be retracted downwards. These are, for example, mounted on an axis pivoting parallel to the first pivot axis.
This tipper is advantageously formed from sheet, this saving weight over a conventional lattice work structure and affording better protection of the underlying elements.
According to one preferred embodiment, when the device is in a position of rest, the tipper and its arms are arranged on the outside of the longerons that form the vehicle chassis. This makes for optimum lowering without the device thereby impinging on the volume of the rear axle assembly.
Another subject of the invention is an automotive vehicle with a front cab, advantageously equipped with a fifth wheel mounted on the chassis, which comprises a handling device as described hereinabove.
One advantage of the invention is that the device can be mounted directly on vehicles which are already equipped with conventional fifth wheels of all types.
Another advantage is that the fifth wheel remains, unmodified, at a standard height (1.35 m) from the ground, thus making manoeuvres easier for the drivers.